Asian Food Across America

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This weekend is the opening weekend of Crazy Rich Asians, the film based on the bestselling book of the same name by Kevin Kwan. And while many of the articles for the film focus on its importance in Asian American representation in Hollywood or the cultural conflict of the plot between traditional class hierarchies amongst rich Chinese versus “rags to middle class riches” Chinese Americans, I, of course, want to write about the food mentioned in the books and movies. In the book series there are liberal mentions of various places that the exorbitantly rich of Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai dine in, which does include places open to the public and are relatively affordable. Below you can find a few of those places found in the film and/or books in Singapore and Hong Kong and my thoughts on them (if I have been). Be aware, there will be some spoilers of the movie and/or books below.

[Following that you’ll find my reflections of the movie].

Singapore:

Newton Food Centre – After Araminta and Colin pick up Nick and Rachel up they head to Newton Food Centre where they order from different stalls specializing in their own dishes. I’ve never eaten at Newton Food Centre but in the scene you can see the foursome chow on various Singaporean dishes like Satay at TKR Satay, Oyster Omelette at Hup Kee Fried Oyster Omelette, and ice kachang at 88 San Ren Cold and Hot Dessert. For reference, in the book they actually go to another hawker centre, Lau Pa Sat, though Nick prefers the satay at Newton.

Hong Kong:

Roast Goose Rice and Tong Choy at Yat Lok

Yung Kee – In the books, Yung Kee is described as the place where the uber rich go dine on roast goose. And while the refined trappings of the restaurant remain intact, a family feud a few years ago led to a split. The better Kam family roast goose now lies at Kam’s Roast Goose in Wan Chai (in decidedly less upscale digs) which also racks up a Michelin star, unlike Yung Kee. Although Kam’s Roast Goose is fantastic, I do have a preference for Yat Lok (also a Michelin star earner) in Central.

Fook Lam Moon– Although I don’t recall this so-called “Tycoon’s Canteen” being in the books, it was mentioned by Kevin Kwan as a place where old money still eats. And honestly my one visit to their TST location showed perfectly why, and it’s not because of their food (which is good but not mind blowing spectacular). It’s because of their service, where they have a number of private rooms, a multitude of wait staff to refill your tea cups so you never have to, and even nice small shelves so your bags never, ever touch the ground (or hang over your seat). Reservations are probably required but it’s not too hard to make one online.

Dim sum at Lung King Heen

Lung King Heen– In the book when Rachel is at the bachelorette party on Samsara Island, Kitty and Alistair are purportedly seen at this three Michelin star restaurant, the first (but now not only) three Michelin star Chinese restaurant in the world. The food might not be the most innovative compared to other high end Cantonese restaurants in Hong Kong, but the dishes are well executed. Like most higher end Cantonese restaurants, the cheaper option is to eat the dim sum ate lunch (which even for 2 people will probably set you back around $40 USD). Advanced reservations of a month or two are advised.

REFLECTIONS

And now to my reflections on the film. Of course, there’s many things I could say about the movie, but I want to focus on how particular parts of the movie affected me. Like Love, Simon, Crazy Rich Asians was an important movie in terms of its cultural impact as a romantic comedy to me. While neither obviously hewed super close to my experience, both movies were well made movies based on reader adored books (of which I read both books before either were movies) that hopefully launch a number of other movies beyond the straight, white upper middle class narrow confines of the vast majority of major studio romantic comedies of the past.

Crazy Rich Asians itself resonated with me loudly in no small part because Kevin Kwan wrote the book for and in the perspective of the Asian American experience, especially those like me who are Millennial children of immigrants. The impetus to root for Rachel is because Rachel is like many of us, children of Asian immigrants that moved to the United States with immense sacrifice to hopefully provide opportunity for their children. (To be clear that’s not the entire Asian American experience which also includes refugees of war as well as those whose families had means to send their Baby Boomer and Gen X children to colleges in the US and Canada)

As such, what Rachel deals with in her trip to Singapore to meet Nick’s family and childhood social circle, she, like us, have a very fish out of water experience when visiting the Asian motherland. There are customs and traditions, regardless of your class or ethnicity (though in the Crazy Rich Asian series, accentuated by class) that are generally known but not quite fully experienced until you visit your ancestral home (or in Rachel’s case, a nation where the majority of folks are Chinese like herself). And in those moments many Asian Americans realize that you’re not quite [Asian ethnicity] enough, but similarly you’re not quite “American enough” for non-Asian, especially white folks, at home.

This is crystalized in 2 of the most powerful scenes of the movie: the dumpling making scene and the mahjong scene [major spoilers ahead]. In the dumpling making scene, Rachel makes dumplings for the rehearsal dinner along with a couple of Nick’s cousins, Nick’s aunts, and Nick’s mom. There’s visible tension between Rachel and Nick’s mom, Eleanor, which comes up to a head when Eleanor catches Rachel as Rachel is lost finding a restroom. The end of the conversation, after Eleanor regales Rachel on how she wasn’t seen as good enough to marry Nick’s dad, hits with a sting when Eleanor, played by the incomparable Michelle Yeoh, tells Rachel that she will never be good enough.

“You will never be good enough” is a phrase that serves both the plot narrative and a line that touches like a cattle prod to Asian Americans like myself. On one side, people like me are told by our Asian immigrant family and family (or people in general) living in Asia that we will never be good enough to meet expectations, including language fluency and respect for ancestral cultural norms. We are, in effect, too American. But then outside of Asian American enclaves at work or school where we try to fit in, we are criticized for having an accent (even if we might not have one – in which case we’re praised for having “surprisingly good English”), eating gross looking or stinky food (which then get popularized a decade later by white chefs that “discover” it), accused of eating cats or dogs (when we don’t), or exoticized for real or assumed body features and sexual desires. It may not be as pointed and direct as what our family members or those in our ancestral lands would say to us, but the effect is the same, we’re too Asian to be an American. It’s a dual hit for Asian Americans like myself who try to bridge our identities and be proud of these different identities, but are told that we aren’t good enough for either.

But as much as those words in the dumpling scene hurt (and when I shed a few tears on my second watch), the mahjong scene near the end turns the table and shows how Asian Americans can have agency and a potential to use perceived weaknesses into strengths. In that scene, Rachel invites Eleanor to play mahjong where they have a pointed conversation about family and cultural compatibility vs. following your heart. What Eleanor doesn’t know, but Rachel soon reveals is that she rejected Nick’s engagement knowing that what Eleanor thinks is a winning hand (marrying Nick) is not one at all and in Nick’s current situation it would be lose-lose. So Rachel chose for him and shows the strength and power of Asian Americans. Rachel then leaves, revealing that she would have had a winning hand but knowingly gave it away to Eleanor (which you can read more in AngryAsianMan’s excellent primer on the scene). The scene shows that Asian Americans like myself actually do understand and respect both the Asian cultural traditions of familial piety and American cultural understandings of individualism and freedom to follow your passions. But the choice isn’t either or; by understanding both cultures you can make your own decisions and not be boxed into one way of doing things.

The movie isn’t perfect by all means, but the books and the movies are so emotional and powerful for Asian Americans who have experiences like myself because it’s one of the first stories we’ve read and seen on the screen that reflects our dual cultural experience. It’s not a story by and for the people (especially the fantastically rich) of Singapore. It’s not a story even for immigrants like my parents who do live in the US now but their major cultural upbringing was from where they were born (who I’m sure will like most of the story anyway, if my aunt is any indication). It’s a story by and for Asian Americans, like Rachel, born and raised in America.

Part 3 of this series takes us to admittedly the hardest, and generally most consistently evolving, BARTable area in terms of surveying the Asian food landscape. Why? Because it takes us to the heart of downtown San Francisco where a number of San Francisco Asian retail and culinary districts are located and the landscape of food in the area is ever evolving. Part of my hesitance to finish this part of the series is on how fast everything changes but I just realized that I can’t be paralyzed by the constantly evolving landscape, otherwise I’d never finish this post and move on to the next post, my stomping grounds in Oakland.

So here we go, a BART station by station guide to downtown San Francisco as of March 2018.

Civic Center Station

Civic Center and the Tenderloin is home to San Francisco’s Little Saigon, a community of Vietnamese immigrants that started springing up in the 1970s and 1980s as refugees from the Vietnam War and its aftermath immigrated here. Over the past few decades the strip of Larkin Street in the Tenderloin has been a center of Vietnamese businesses in the city. As such, you’ll find wonderful places to taste Vietnamese cuisine such as the Vietnamese Chinese style wonton noodle soup at Hai Ky Mi Giaand neighboring Them Ky. You can get Southern Vietnamese style pho at Pho 2000 and Northern Vietnamese pho and other items at Turtle Tower. Banh Mi chain Lee’s Sandwiches also has a location on this stretch of Larkin between Eddy and O’Farrell.

While Vietnamese cuisine has been in the Tenderloin for decades, that last ten years has seen a wave of Thai cuisine in the neighborhood. This includes an outpost of the swanky-ish Ler Ros and the more mom and pop San Jai Thai. If you want Northern style Thai with some fantastic Lao specialities, there’s Tycoon Thai.

Powell Station

Pad Kee Mao at Kin Khao

Powell Street Station is the stop for Union Square, the central shopping hub of the city and the area with an endless array of hotels catering to the millions of (mostly well to do) tourists that travel to the city. As such, I generally don’t recommend any Asian restaurant around Union Square and the parts of SoMa near Powell.

However, there are a few bright spots. Northeast of the station, slightly removed from the tourist and shopping hubbub, are a few solid choices. Among them include Chinese hot pot chain Little Sheep, delicious ramen shop Mensho Tokyo, Korean restaurant 707 Sutter, hole in the wall Filipino diner Tselogs, and Vietnamese Chinese seafood restaurant Kim Thanh.

Right by the BART station in the heart of the hustle and bustle are some good options, especially if your wallet is a little more hefty. Michelin starred Kin Khao serves terrific Thai food (their tasting menu, though pricy, is absolutely worth it) and Hakkasan serves solidly refined Cantonese cuisine. And not to be remiss is Tin, a good Vietnamese restaurant in SoMa.

Montgomery Station

Three Treasure Bao Zai Fan at China Live

Montgomery Station drops you off in San Francisco’s Financial District. While there are are a few gems during the lunchtime rush like Señor Sisig‘s regular food truck locations on 2nd Street and Pine Street, it’s a rather barren place as a whole for quality Asian food.

However, Montgomery Street is the closest BART station to San Francisco Chinatown. While the hike to Chinatown is generally uphill and requires at least a 10-15 minute walk from the BART station, most places in the neighborhood aren’t too far to be considered unwalkable. Closer to the BART station on the flatter Kearny Street you can find such restaurants as vaunted Cantonese seafood place R&G Lounge, Taiwanese tea and food experts Hanlin Tea Room, and Sichuanese noodle specialist Chong Qing Xiao Mian.

Further up the hill include upscale Eataly styled restaurant/food emporium China Liveand a number of longstanding Cantonese places. These include Kam Po, a delicious purveyor of Cantonese BBQ, and Lai Hong Lounge, a dim sum and Chinese seafood restaurant.

Embarcadero Station

Wood Oven Roasted Branzino at the Slanted Door

And finally at the eastern end of San Francisco before BART heads through the Transbay Tube is Embarcadero Station. Like Montgomery Station there isn’t a plethora of Asian food around it, as expense account new American and European influenced restaurants are generally the norm. A couple bright spots do exist though (and both are also fairly pricey): Yank Sing, a solid purveyor of dim sum with 2 locations, and The Slanted Door, a Vietnamese restaurant that may not live to its previous heights but still serves well executed food.

Downtown San Francisco, overall, has a great volume of Asian restaurants though finding a good one can be like finding a needle in a haystack. Hopefully this guide can help cut across the clutter and won’t be dated too soon.

I can’t wait until the next part of this series though, as I head across the bay to my hometown of Oakland.

On most workdays I travel to Oakland Chinatown for lunch since it’s a fairly short walk from my office and I can get lunch at a reasonably affordable prices. When I’m in Chinatown, I usually make it to the corner of 11th and Webster where I eat lunch at either Baby Cafe or Shooting Star Cafe for some classic, filling Hong Kong style cafe food. Over the last few months, though, I noticed signs for a new restaurant called Tastee Steam Kitchen.

Since I’m curious about any new Chinese restaurant in Oakland Chinatown, I took a look and was fascinated by a restaurant dedicated to “steam grilling”, which I had never heard before (and seems like a thing in Hong Kong?). I was intrigued, especially since it was opened by the same owners of Shooting Star Cafe, but the price seemed like a pricey hot pot so I decided to wait.

But then came its addition to Michael Bauer’s top 100 restaurants of the Bay Area and I felt compelled to finally go. My aunt was thinking about getting together for dinner too and I decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to try a new place out.

We went on a Thursday night and got seated right away. We carefully browsed the menu which was very similar to an ala carte hot pot place like Little Sheep. There was a list of congee bases you could choose from (the steam and the drippings from the cooked food combine with the congee base to create a congee at the end of the meal). Then there was a list of sauces you could choose for 25 cents each, in addition to the free soy sauce, vinegar, and hot chile oil they have on the table. Then there is a selection of meats, seafood, vegetables, and dim sum items you select to steam at your table. After looking at the menu, we ordered the following:

Marble Beef (before steaming) at Tastee Steam Kitchen

Marble Beef (肥牛) – Our first plate was marble beef that was steamed to just perfectly done. While thinly sliced, the fat in the beef help give the meat a nice, juicy flavor that matched well with the spicy soy sauce mixture I had. At $5, it was super cheap for the portion as well.

Egg Tofu with Ground Pork in XO Sauce (XO滑肉豆腐) – I think we were expecting more of a steam egg/meatloaf like dish but these pork meatloaf bits and tofu were nice, if less than exciting. The meat was juicy, though I was hoping for a little more spiciness and saltiness. It was hard to eat it together with the medium soft tofu. It was alright, if not exciting.

Snow Pea Leaves (after steaming) at Tastee Steam Kitchen

Snow Pea Leaves 大豆苗 – I love pea leaves and when these were steaming, it was so great to smell the fragrant, nutty aroma. They were steamed perfectly, and the milder flavor helped absorb the sauces well. I do wish, however, that this came in between the meat dishes.

Lotus Root 蓮藕 – There was a LOT of lotus root so if you love lotus root, this is exceptionally good value. The lotus root probably could have used more steam to make it softer, but the crunch was still nice and made for a good vessel for the sauces.

Custard Bun 流沙包 – Finally, we ended the meal with a bun filled with runny custard. Like the other items, it was steamed and timed exactly right. The buns were oozing with delicious runny custard that was a perfect end to the meal.

Cordyceps Flower and Chicken Congee at the end

Afterward we had the cordyceps flower and chicken congee. While the rice and chicken cooked beautifully with all that steam and water, the congee was a bit lacking in flavor. However, that’s likely due to the fact that we only had one dish that had major protein juice drippings to help flavor the congee. It probably would have been more flavorful if we got a seafood dish instead of a vegetable dish.

All in all, I liked Tastee Steam Kitchen though I do wish they alternated between cooking vegetables and meat instead of cooking meat at the beginning then vegetables. I’ll definitely have to go again and order more meat and seafood to see how it flavors the congee in the end. There is certainly a lot of potential to this new type of cooking that’s as healthy as hot pot with the ability to have everything perfectly cooked on a “grill”. I’ll just have to go a little bit more before I can confidently say it’s one of the best restuarants in the Bay.

Like last year, this year I’ll be recapping the favorite 5 places I ate at and blogged about in the past year along with listing the 5 places I most look forward to eating this year.

As usual, I wasn’t able to make it to all of the places I was hoping to go to. However, I managed to go to three of them: Chengdu Taste, Lung King Heen, and Tita’s Kitchenette. All were pretty good and lived up their hype. I may have been surprised by Lung King Heen’s lack of innovation or Tita’s Kitchenette’s gargantuan servings, but they did little to detract from the quality of the food.

That said, there were plenty of restaurants which impressed me that were not on my list of top 5 eateries to go to in 2016. Some were spur of the moment choices while others were places on my bucket list and exceeded expectations. So without further ado, here they are:

Hot Oiled Seared Biang Biang Noodles at Biang!

Biang!– This year was the first time I ate Shaanxi cuisine (the cuisine of Xi’an). Of all the Shaanxi places that I ate at and blogged about, Biang! was the best. It might be a bit pricier than other places, but the food was excellent, especially their very flavorful hand pulled biang biang noodles.

Toothpick Lamb at Chengdu Taste

Chengdu Taste– The toothpick lamb and Mung Bean Jelly Noodle With Chilli Sauce were extraordinary, with an impeccable balance of flavors rarely found in other Sichuan restaurants in the United States. The balance of the spices that are just enough to accentuate the flavors of the ingredients without overpowering them is one of many reasons why it continues to reign in Southern California’s fiercely competitive Sichuan dining scene.

Si krong muu at Little Serow

Little Serow– Little Serow’s dinner set menu may be a little strict, but is a wonderful introduction to Northern Thai food. The quality and the execution of the dishes like the pork ribs are amazing and a set tasting menu of only $49 offers incredible value. If it weren’t for the many other great restaurants popping up in DC, I would eat here again.

Wood Oven Roasted Branzino at the Slanted Door

The Slanted Door– I’m glad a half dozen of my friends decided that they also wanted to go with me and eat at the Slanted Door. Because of that, I was able to sample a larger amount of dishes than I normally would be able to. While some dishes were alright, others like the Wood Oven Roasted Branzino were amazing in their perfect execution. To boot, they also serve one of the best Hong Kong style milk teas I have had in the Bay Area (which is an impressive feat!).

Yan Toh Heen Superior Dumplings

Yan Toh Heen– It was hard to pick which dim sum place that I went to this past year was the best, but Yan Toh Heen narrowly tops out T’ang Court because its execution and service was more exceptional than T’ang Court, even if it doesn’t beat out in innovation (though please try the innovative Yan Toh Heen Superior Dumplings if you go). Of course, the view of Victoria Harbour from the windows of the restaurant doesn’t hurt as well. (Lung King Heen was out of the running as I have not blogged about it yet)

Forward to 2017

After a year of excellent food in 2016, what’s next for me in 2017? Given the continued proliferation of Shaanxi and Sichuan cuisine, especially in California, I’ll likely be blogging about other Chinese regional cuisines more and a little less about Cantonese cuisine. My travels will also be less Hong Kong centric this year, so this year you can expect food reports on what various East or Southeast Asian cuisines are like in London, Mexico City, and other cities across America like Albuquerque (my old home) and Atlanta.

Given all of my different travels this year, here are the top 5 dining establishments I am aiming and looking forward to going to in 2017:

Bad Saint– During my last trip to DC, I literally missed the opening of this lauded Filipino restaurant by a matter of days. This time I will be sure to go sample the dishes that have garnered rave reviews from a 3.5 (of 4) star rating in the Washington Post to the Bib Gourmand recommendation in Michelin’s first guide of Washington, DC.

Din Tai Fung (Xinyi Road)– Okay, this is cheating a little bit as I have already gone here since the new year. However, this place was one of the top places I wanted to go to when I was in Taiwan. I have now been to the original location and am excited to blog about it soon!

HKK– This is the flagship restaurant of the international Hakkasan chain (yes, the same chain that has a Las Vegas location more known as a popular nightclub with well known EDM DJs). As such, I’m seeing if their food is as up to par with the refined decor and expensive prices, especially given that even the dim sum items are more expensive than the two and three Michelin starred Cantonese restaurants of Hong Kong.

Kowloon Delight– Let’s just say that this type of restaurant isn’t what I normally consider a place to go to. However, despite my low regard for Taishanese/Cantonese style dishes that have assimilated into the palates of North America, cafes de chino are a rich legacy of the Chinese diaspora in Mexico (although Kowloon delight isn’t quite a proper cafe de chino as those have all but disappeared). As such, I would be interested in going here to not only experience Chinese Mexican food but also how it compares or perhaps relates to Chinese American cuisine.

Char Siu Bao at Tim Ho Wan North Point

Tim Ho Wan (New York City)– Yes, I have been to Tim Ho Wan in Hong Kong, but they have just opened their first location in the United States. Of course I want to see how it stacks up to the locations in Hong Kong.

What’s it like to fly on the first flight of a route an airline just opens up? I was about to find out on this trip since I was lucky enough that my cheap Hong Kong fare coincided with America Airlines’ first flight from LA to Hong Kong.

Cathay Pacific 889 JFK-YVR, Business Class September 4, 2016

But first, a little diversion to Cathay Pacific. When I was originally planning this trip, it had only included New York (to see Hamilton and the US Open) and Vancouver (because I just love the city). To get from New York to Vancouver I used 25,000 of my American Airlines miles to fly business class on Cathay Pacific. While I have flown first and business class a few times, I’ve never done it on a non-US airline so I decided that I could splurge a little and give it a try. Rarely does a non-US, Canadian, or Mexican airline flight across North America, but Cathay Pacific does on this specific route to pick up passengers in New York and Vancouver on they way to Hong Kong.

I cleared security a few minutes before boarding started (50 minutes before departure time) and by the time I got to the gate they were already boarding economy. Since I had no time to spare, I just boarded my flight, forgoing my usual ritual of a latte or hot chocolate.

Cathay Pacific Business Class Menu

Once I was seated the flight attendants immediately offered me a choice of cranberry juice, orange juice, or water. I sipped on some water and then drank some cranberry juice on their second round of pre-departure beverage service. As boarding ended and the doors were about to close, I was given the menu for the flight, which you can see above.

Stir fried beef with rice on Cathay Pacific

Since it’s just a transcontinental flight, they only have one meal service, which is fine given that this flight is also a red eye flight as well. The starter of mixed salad with balsamic vinnaigrette was decent. The greens were fresh and the dressing was pretty standard, so I would call it a nice, run of the meal salad you would find as a salad starter at a decent chain restaurant.

For the entree I got the stir fried beef and sesame seeds with pak choy, carrot, and jasmine rice. The food was delicious. The soy based stir fry sauce flavored the slices of beef well without being too overpowering or gloppy. The vegetables were thinly sliced and pretty fresh. The rice was fluffy and perfectly cooked. This was, by far, the best airline meal I’ve ever had, which admittedly is a fairly low bar these days. I guess I would say that I have found decent mid-range Chinese restaurants that do a poorer job than Cathay Pacific’s business class catering.

Oriental Breeze, Cathay Pacific Signature Mocktail

As for dessert, I got the cheese plate, which had a few small wedges of chese, grapes, and crackers. It was pretty decent and certainly a nice change for the pints of sugared up ice cream that is ubiquitous on trans-oceanic economy class flights. In addition to my many cups of Hong Kong Milk tea, I got Cathay Pacific’s “signature drink” mocktail, the Oriental Breeze, which is a mix of plum tea, cranberry juice, honey, and fresh lemon juice with a small dried rosebud as a garnish. It was pretty refreshing and not overly sweet.

American Airlines 193 LAX-HKG, Economy Class September 7, 2016

Now back to my post about the inaugural flight. I arrived at LAX from SFO around 8:30, hours before my scheduled 1:55AM departure. After grabbing dinner and catching up on email at the Admirals Lounge, I headed over to the gate around 12AM as the festivities were beginning.

Kee Wah Catering for AA LAX-HKG Inaugural

I had high hopes for the festivities given that dim sum was served at the festivities of the inaugural DFW-HKG flight. At LAX there were the requisite lion dancers, a speech, and a ribbon cutting ceremony. Sadly there wasn’t any dim sum, but American Airlines did do some pastry catering from Kee Wah. There were “pineapple” buns, red bean buns, and egg tarts. I zoomed in on the egg custard tarts, which had a nice egg-rich filling and flakier crust that typifies a Kee Wah egg custard tart. They also gave out tiny mooncakes, given that the Mid-Autumn Festival was a little over a week away. I snagged one lotus seed paste and one red bean paste one. When I tasted both the weekend after the Mid-Autumn festival, both were decent but not anywhere near the quality of the lotus seed paste ones I had bought in Hong Kong.

Once we boarded the flight we were given menus which you can see below:

AA LAX-HKG Inaugural Menu

During the first meal course I opted for the seared shrimp with Shanghai noodles. To put it mildly, they were absolutely dreadful. It was like eating the chow mien at a shady Chinese buffet as they are about to close. The most distinctive flavors were oil cooked too long and the freezer burn of frozen shrimp.

Shrimp with Shanghai Noodles on AA 193

The second meal service was a little bit better. The ratatouille stromboli was like an oversized, decent empanada with a nice tomato stew filling. The gelato was great too and I liked it even better than the mini cups of Haagen Dazs that are so ubiquitous on other long haul flights I have flown.

Chinese dim sum with egg noodles on AA 193

The third meal service was pretty decent too. I chose the Chinese dim sum with fried egg noodles. While I wouldn’t say that the dim sum or noodles were great, they were decent for economy class airline food, about as good as dim sum and noodles would be at a cheap takeout place in San Francisco, Oakland, or New York’s Chinatowns.

Milk tea on AA 193

What I liked the most, however, was that American Airlines’ Hong Kong routes serve Hong Kong milk tea in economy on their flights (unlike Cathay Pacific). While my first cup was a bit rough given that this senior White flight attendant had no experience making milk tea (the tea was too weak and there was too little condensed milk), the cups were progressively better as the flight went on. Though the food on American Airlines isn’t quite impressive (even compared to Cathay Pacific economy), I do love unlimited cups of Hong Kong milk tea.

All in all, it looks like airline food is getting a little better. On my return flight I got a perfectly done fish dish, which was volumes better than the Shanghai noodles. Props to both Cathay Pacific and American Airlines for overall good flights with decent food. Airline food certainly is not as down in the doldrums as it was a decade or two ago.

If I was skeptical that Thai food in Portland would be good, even with a world renown restaurant, then I certainly did not have high expectations for ramen in Portland. However, I am always up to try different types of Asian food wherever I travel so I ignored any reservations I had and dug right into my food adventures.

My first Portland ramen stop was Mirakutei, conveniently located a few blocks from the hotel I was staying. I went with my coworkers on a Monday afternoon who also wanted to grab lunch close by.

We sat down and looked at a very simple, one page lunch menu which had a few ramen options and a few bento box options. Most of us opted for the several ramen options that they had. I chose the tonkotsu ramen option, which came out fairly quickly. The broth was nice with a salty, rich pork stock that was filling but not too overpowering with fat. The noodles were good, if slightly more cooked than I liked. The pieces of pork were fabulous, however, with perfectly moist and tender meat and the eggs were perfectly soft boiled. At only $9.50, it is definitely a bargain lunch and well worth it.

A few days later my friend and I were on our way to Salt and Straw from the International Test Rose Garden and decided that we needed to eat some dinner first. While Northwest Portland has plenty of decent dining options, we spotted Boxer Ramen and decided to go in.

Boxer Ramen is pretty casual with a few picnic like tables set inside with a really simple menu of about 10 items plus a few seasonal side items on a separate sheet of paper. We both decided to get different types of ramen and share the Greens and Sesame. The Greens and Sesame came first and was very refreshing. The cabbage lightly flavored the chard as well and there was just enough oyster sauce to get a hint of saltiness. Then the Tonkotsu Shio came to the table. I wish the broth could have used a little more fat, but the noodles were cooked perfectly. The pork tender, if a little chewy, but I liked that there were a few more pieces than usual. The only true disappoint of the dish were the 2 soft poached eggs I had, which were very runny and, dare I say, bordering on raw. Overall, however, I liked my bowl of ramen and still found it pretty good.

All in all, the ramen in Portland I had certainly surpassed my expectations. In fact, despite the little imperfections here and there, I thought the ramen was still better overall compared to ramen shops in the East Bay. It goes to show that while mid-sized cities that don’t have a relatively large Asian population may not have restaurants that rise to the level of Los Angeles or New York, they certainly can have Asian food that can be competitive and above any expectations. I certainly won’t be bashful in trying out more ramen and Thai spots in Portland when I’m back again.

After my aunt and I paid our mother’s day respects to my maternal grandmother and great grandmother, we headed down to San Mateo for an early dinner. Since I was in charge of which restaurant to go to, I decided to pick China Bee based on its fairly good reputation and my mom’s love of Taiwanese food. We got to downtown San Mateo at about 5:15PM but I had to circle another 20 minutes to find parking as it seems everyone was out for dinner to celebrate Mother’s Day.

We sat down and looked at its one page menu to see what we wanted to eat. Even with a one page menu, though, it was hard to pare down the choices. Should I choose three cup chicken? What about the stir fried glutinous rice cakes my mom liked to eat? It was a little hard to decide, but we ended up getting the following:

Spicy Beef Noodle Soup at China Bee

Spicy Beef Noodle Soup – The broth was nice, packing a very dark beef broth with a good amount of chili oil to give it some kick. I loved the chewy wheat noodles as well. The one downside, however, was that the beef itself was not as tender and moist as most other places I have had.

Shanghai Style Chow Mein – This dish was okay, though the noodles were thinner Cantonese style white noodles than the thicker, doughier noodles that I was used to. I wished that the flavor of the sweet soy sauce could come out a little more and that they added more vegetables.

Stinky Tofu at China Bee

Stinky Tofu – While the fermenting smell was fragrant, there was a lack of fermented flavor when we bit into the tofu pieces. Perhaps it was lost when the tofu was deep fried? The vinegar soy sauce at the bottom of the bowl was a nice compliment, however.

Green Onion Pancakes at China Bee

Green Onion Pancakes – While the layers on the inside had some flakiness and the outside was fried well, on the whole these were pretty doughy causing more chewiness than better green onion pancake.

All in all, the food was perfectly decent but nothing to write home about (but it’s been a few weeks since I’ve had a blog post). It was a nice place to eat with my aunt, though it only intensified cravings for Taiwanese food in Southern California. On the Taiwanese food front, it seems that nothing in the Bay Area can compare to Southern California, just like any Cantonese dish I cook now pails in comparison to my mom’s more exquisite cooking.

Over the past few years DC has exploded with a number of high quality Southeast Asian restaurants. I’ve documented the surge of Filipino food in DC before, but the growth of Southeast Asian food has also extended to other cuisines like Lao at Thip Khao and Thai at Little Serow. I wanted to try both during my brief time in town two weeks ago but only had time for one, so I chose Little Serow.

Little Serow can be hard to miss, with a relatively nondescript location on 17th Avenue NW. I definitely walked passed it on my way there during my trip. However, its inconspicuousness does not deter it from having its tables constantly filled every night. It’s a testament to the renown of the cooking quality here, years after its grand opening.

The restaurant has a constantly changing prix fixe menu that’s currently priced at $49. The week I was there, this was the following menu:

Nam prik makeua at Little Serow

Nam prik makeua – This is Little Serow’s version of nam prik (a thick spicy sauce) with eggplant. Normally I’m not an eggplant fan, but grounded up with salted fish and chiles, this was the perfect starter for the night.

Khanom jin naam yaa – The next dish included perfectly cooked noodles mixed with a catfish curry sauce. Given my preference for less sauce, I would say that there was a little too much sauce for me. However, the flavors were pretty good and it was probably one of my favorite dishes tonight given my love of catfish.

Ma hor – The jackfruit in this dish matched pretty well with the spiciness of the chiles and the richness of the pork and shrimp. I think I ate this entire dish in less than a minute, if that is any indication of its deliciousness.

Laap chiang mai at Little Serow

Laap chiang mai – This dish comes with small wedges of cabbage, which I unfortunately swallowed and choked on in the middle of the meal. That aside, I thought this minced sausage was enjoyable, especially with the lettuce and radishes they give you throughout the meal.

Tow hu thouk – I loved these fried tofu pieces. The ginger paired well with the chiles while the ground peanuts gave a nice crunch to the dish.

Het grapao – After eating spicy dish after spicy dish, the over easy egg and mushroom were definitely a great way to start cooling down my taste buds.

Si krong muu at Little Serow

Si krong muu – Ending out the night were these well marinated and succulent rib pieces. The meat fell right off the bone and it was definitely a highlight to end the savory portion of the meal.

As a person with little experience eating northern Thai cuisine I can’t really speak to any quality comparisons with other restaurants. However, it was a very tasty introduction to northern Thai cuisine, tasting small bites of dishes that I might otherwise need to eat multiple times at a more traditional entree sized restaurant. In fact, I would say that the introduction to new flavors is why this meal was my favorite of the trip, even beating out my excellent meal at highly regarded Rose’s Luxury.

Despite Orange County’s reputation as a place filled with wealthy white people, it is one of the most diverse counties in the country. Example 1 of many which attest to this fact is that Orange County is home to the largest Vietnamese community in America, if not outside Vietnam, with an estimated 211,862 people of Vietnamese descent living there, mostly concentrated in Westminster and Garden Grove.

So it goes without saying that one of my favorite things about attending UC Irvine was its ease of access to an unparalleled quantity of quality Vietnamese food. Within a 15 minute drive from campus you could reach endless Vietnamese dominate strip malls along Brookhurst, Magnolia, Bolsa, or the many smaller streets off of them.

One of my favorite restaurants in Little Saigon during my time in college was Pho Nguyen Hue, which was introduced to me by a Vietnamese friend of a friend that was raised down the road in Fountain Valley. While they have some very delicious phở bò (beef pho), they are arguably more well known for their phở ga (chicken pho). In fact, a few years ago theOC Weeklypronounced their phở ga was even better than renown phở ga restaurant Pho Dakao down the street.

Thus, when I went to Orange County last week and had a craving for pho ga for lunch, it was clear that I had to go to Pho Nguyen Hue and see if their phở ga today can match the phở ga I ate in years past. The results are below:

Pho Ga at Pho Nguyen Hue

Phở ga (with skin and dark meat, without liver or gizzard) – While the broth was a little saltier than usual, the overall chicken flavor was excellent with just enough chicken fat content for flavor without being overpowering. The chicken pieces were quite tender and juicy, as usual, which paired well with the gingery sweet fish sauce that came with it. The noodles were cooked to perfection. All of this for just $6.50!

Egg Rolls at Pho Nguyen Hue

Chả giò (egg rolls) – I was hungry so I decided to order some egg rolls too. Unlike other places, the egg roll skins on these are not as crisp and flaky. The filling was pretty meaty with tons of ground pork, shredded carrots, and tapioca glass noodles. While I wish there were a little more accouterments, the lettuce and mint worked perfectly well.

All in all, it was great to have a “taste of home” of sorts at Pho Nguyen Hue. It’s a place I will continue to have many fond memories, even if the service is bare bones and it is still cash only. There are days that I still miss living in Orange County, even if it is to eat a simple bowl of phở in Little Saigon.

When I was tallying up which type of restaurant I ate at the most on this recent trip to Hong Kong, I realized they were essentially restaurants known for their noodle soups. In retrospect, it wasn’t much of a surprise as it turned out that my visit coincided with the coldest winter in more than 40 years. There are few things more warming on a cold winter’s day than a bowl of hot noodle soup.

Here’s a few of the places I went to nourish myself with a bowl of hot soup and toothsome noodles:

While I have already reviewed Yat Lok before (making this the first time I’ve reviewed a place more than once), what I did not try last time was their signature menu item: 燒鵝瀨粉(roast goose lai fun). Unfortunately, the roast goose was not as good as I had last time. However, that was likely due to the fact that I came during an off time (2PM) where the turnover of the goose was slow, and thus the skin of goose got a little soggier sitting idly by. In contrast, the broth was nice in its simplicity of flavor with just the flavor of goose and a few spices. I also like the lai fun as well, which were surprisingly al dente as I’m used to rice and tapioca starch noodles usually getting too soft, too quickly.

On the Sunday of my stay in Hong Kong I woke up earlier than usual so I decided to have breakfast. As I mentioned before, it was cold in Hong Kong so I just took a quick trip down the street to 羅富記粥麵專家, which seemed decent given its relatively good reviews on OpenRice (Hong Kong’s Yelp).

I ordered the 水餃麵 (Dumpling Noodle Soup) and 魚片粥 (Fish Congee). While the soup in the noodle soup was decent in its medium strong seafood flavor and use of chives, I was not much of a fan of the dumplings. The dumplings did not seem to have the freshest shrimp and folded a bit sloppily. However, the worst offense of the dumplings were the extremely heavy use of black pepper the overpowered the flavor of the dumpling.

In contrast, the fish congee was great. The fish was very fresh and the congee was seasoned well. The only downside were that the portion of congee was huge, meaning I couldn’t finish it at all.

I confess, I wasn’t really looking to eat at this place. In fact, I was hoping to eat breakfast at the famed Mido Cafe just before I left for the airport, but it was closed for a break day. Since it was raining a little bit, I decided to go to the nearest hole in the wall restaurant instead, which happened to be 新成香港仔魚蛋王.

Given that the signage and many posters in the places pointed to fish balls, I decided to get a bowl of 魚蛋麵 (Fish Ball Noodle Soup). It took a few minutes for the fish balls to cook, but once it arrived it felt like heaven during the cold, rainy morning. The broth did seem a little too salty but the fish balls were cooked perfectly and assisted by a little dab of hot chile oil that I added. The noodles were perfectly toothsome as well. At around $28 Hong Kong Dollars, it was a bargain too.

The last of my noodle soup adventures ended up at the airport when I was getting lunch before my early afternoon flight to Los Angeles. In all fairness, and looking at OpenRice, it’s probably not best to judge other branches of this chain from its location at the airport. Airport concessions tend to rely more on quantity, volume, and efficiency so some quality gets sacrificed.

Sad to say, it was pretty telling when I ordered a bowl of 雲吞麵 (Wonton noodle soup). The broth was just okay and I felt it could have used more seafood. The wontons, while wrapped perfectly well, were a bit heavy on the pork as opposed to the shrimp. I suppose pork is just easier to prep, cook, and store at an airport kitchen but it was a real downside to a city that is known for large, tasty, and fresh all-shrimp (or almost all-shrimp) wontons.

All in all, this trip has taught me that the wisdom of the crowd can lead to truly delicious discoveries like Yat Lok (and previously, Mak’s Noodle House) but also some disheartening disappointments. However, Hong Kong is a city known for it’s street food and hole in the wall places. Those hole in the wall, barely reviewed places can just be your next ticket to a whole new world of tasty bites.